Two-tone physical uplink shared channel for machine type communications

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe configuration and use of sub-physical resource block allocation for physical uplink shared channel and demodulation reference signals. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/277,870 filed on Feb. 15, 2019, entitled “TWO-TONE PHYSICALUPLINK SHARED CHANNEL FOR MACHINE TYPE COMMUNICATIONS,” which claimspriority to: U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/710,594 filedFeb. 16, 2018, and entitled “Design of 2-Tone Physical Uplink SharedChannel (PUSCH) for Release 15 (Rel-15) Even Further Enhanced MachineType Communication (EFEMTC)”; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/652,595 filed Apr. 4, 2018 and entitled “Design of 2-Tone PhysicalUplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for Release 15 (Rel-15) Even FurtherEnhanced Machine Type Communication (EFEMTC)”; and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/653,975 filed Apr. 6, 2018 and entitled“Design of 2-Tone Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for Release 15(Rel-15) Even Further Enhanced Machine Type Communication (EFEMTC).” Theentire disclosures of these applications are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the technicalfield of wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

In Release 13 narrowband Internet of things (NB-IoT), sub-physicalresource block (PRB) allocation is supported for physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH) to support higher PUSCH spectral efficiency.Specifically, single-tone allocation is supported for PUSCH withsubcarrier spacing of 3.75 kHz, and single-tone allocation andmulti-tone allocation with 3, 6, or 12 subcarriers are supported forPUSCH with subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by wayof limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a message flow between network devices in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a resource grid in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a resource grid in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a resource grid in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a resource grid in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a resource grid in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an operation flow/algorithmic structure in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an operation flow/algorithmic structure in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an operation flow/algorithmic structure in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a process in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates an architecture of a system of a network inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an infrastructure equipment inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a platform in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry and radiofront end modules in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 15 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofvarious embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examplesthat depart from these specific details. In certain instances,descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted soas not to obscure the description of the various embodiments withunnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrase“A or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B).

To increase the PUSCH spectral efficiency for efeMTC, sub-PRB allocationcan be supported. For example, 2 adjacent subcarriers out of 3 allocatedsubcarriers with discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-spread of length twocan be used with pi/2 binary shift keying (BPSK) modulation for sub-PRBPUSCH in efeMTC. In this disclosure, various embodiments describe designdetails of PUSCH with 2 out of 3 subcarriers allocation in efeMTC.Specifically, the design of configuration technique, numerology,resource allocation, the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) design,power control, and support in time division duplex (TDD) systems arediscussed.

FIG. 1 illustrates a message flow between two network devices inaccordance with some embodiments. The two network devices may include auser equipment (UE) 104, which may be configured for efeMTC, and anaccess node 108. These devices may be similar to, and substantiallyinterchangeable with, like-named devices described elsewhere herein.

At 112, the UE 104 may transmit network capability information to theaccess node 108. In some embodiments, the network capability informationmay include information related to support of various sub-PRBallocations. For example, the UE 104 may indicate support for 2 out of 3allocated subcarriers; 3 allocated subcarriers; or 6 allocatedsubcarriers.

At 116, the access node 108 may transmit a configuration message to theUE 104. The configuration message may configure the UE 104 withinformation related to various sub-PRB configurations for PUSCHtransmissions. The sub-PRB configurations may be a 2 out of 3 subcarrierconfiguration (e.g., 2 out of 3 subcarriers may be allocated for PUSCHtransmission); a 3 subcarrier configuration (e.g., 3 subcarriers may beallocated for PUSCH transmission and all three may be used for thetransmission); or a 6 subcarrier configuration (e.g., 6 subcarriers maybe allocated for PUSCH transmission and all six may be used for thetransmission).

In various embodiments, the configuration information may relate topossible subcarrier allocation, numerology, DMRS design, power control,transport block size (TBS) table design, repetition cycles, etc. In someembodiments, as will be described in further detail, the configurationmessage may include one or more higher-layer messages such as, but notlimited to, radio resource control (RRC) message is that includeinformation elements with the configuration information.

At 120, the access node 108 may transmit an allocation message to the UE104. The allocation message may provide information related to aspecific resource allocation for a PUSCH transmission. For example, theallocation message may indicate a certain number of subcarriers havebeen allocated for the PUSCH transmission. The indication of theallocation may be in, for example, the downlink control informationtransmitted in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

At 124, the UE 104 may generate and transmit a PUSCH transmissionaccording to the configuration/allocation information previouslyreceived.

Aspects involved in various of these messages will be described infurther detail below.

Configuration of 2-Tone Allocation

In some embodiments, a 2-tone allocation may be configured (by, forexample, the configuration message at 116). As used herein, “tone” maybe used interchangeably with “subcarrier.” In some embodiments, a PUSCHwith 2 out of 3 subcarriers may be configured together with othersub-PRB allocations, for example, sub-PRB allocations with 3 or 6subcarriers. The configuration may depend on UE capability (received at,for example, 112). The UE may signal its capability on support of 2 outof 3 subcarriers, 3 subcarriers and 6 subcarriers jointly. For example,one capability message may include all of the UE capabilities related tosub-PRB allocations.

In other embodiments, the capability of support of 2 out of 3subcarriers may be signaled separately from the support of other sub-PRBallocations, for example, sub-PRB allocations with 3 or 6 subcarriers.The configuration for PUSCH with 2 out of 3 subcarriers can be separatefrom configuration for PUSCH with 3 and 6 subcarriers.

Numerology

In some embodiments, PUSCH with 2 out of 3 subcarriers may support only15 kHz subcarrier spacing. Alternatively, 3.75 kHz subcarrier spacingmay be supported for PUSCH with 2 out of 3 subcarriers.

Resource Allocation for PUSCH with 2 Out of 3 Subcarriers

Definition of the 3-Subcarrier Allocation

In some embodiments, for PUSCH with 2 out of 3 subcarriers, the3-subcarrier allocation sets can be non-overlapped, which may be similarto the 3-subcarrier allocation sets in narrowband-Internet of things(NB-IoT). For example, in accordance with one embodiment only four3-subcarrier allocation sets within a PRB may be allocated for the 2 outof 3 subcarrier allocations. Those four 3-subcarrier allocation sets mayinclude: {0, 1, 2}, {3, 4, 5}, {6, 7, 8} or {9, 10, 11}.

Alternatively, the 3-subcarrier allocation sets can be overlapped. Forexample, an allocation set can have subcarriers {x, x+1, x+2} for x in{0, 1, . . . , 9} within a PRB. As another example, the allocation of3-subcarriers can cross PRBs, e.g., the allocation can have subcarriers{x, x+1, x+2} for x in {0, 1, . . . , 69} within a narrowband (NB).

Indication Techniques

The allocation of the 3 subcarriers can be static (e.g., fixed in a 3GPPTechnical Specification (TS)), semi-static (e.g., configured by RRCsignaling either cell-specifically or UE-specifically), or dynamic(e.g., signaled by DCI).

For the allocation of the 2 subcarriers out of allocated 3 subcarriers,it can be static (e.g., fixed in TS), semi-static (e.g., configured byRRC signaling either cell-specifically or UE-specifically), or dynamic(e.g., signaled by DCI). In some embodiments, if 3-subcarrier allocationhas been specified/signaled, 1 bit can be used to indicate whether theallocated 2 subcarriers are the first 2 subcarriers or last 2subcarriers in the 3-subcarrier allocation. The 1 bit can be indicatedin RRC signaling if semi-static configuration of the 2-subcarrierallocation is adopted, or in DCI if dynamic configuration of the2-subcarrier allocation is adopted. If the indication is via RRCsignaling, it can be either cell-specific or UE specific.

The following are some examples of resource allocation techniques thatmay be used in various embodiments.

In some embodiments, for cases where the 3-subcarrier allocation setscannot be overlapped for 2 out of 3-subcarrier allocation, one or moreof the following techniques may be used.

For example, Mbits can be used in DCI for the indication of 2, 3, and6-subcarrier allocations. For example, M=4 can be used, where the3-subcarrier allocation for 2 out of 3-subcarrier PUSCH can be indicatedby 3*(I_(SC)−X2)+{0, 1}+Y, the 3-subcarrier PUSCH can be indicated by3*(I_(SC)−X3)+{0, 1, 2}, and the 6-subcarrier allocation can beindicated by 6*(I_(SC)−X6)+{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, with {X2=0, X3=4, X6=8}and Y from {0, 1}, which can be fixed in a TS, configured by RRCsignaling, or indicated by DCI (e.g., via 1 bit), as illustrated inTable 1.

TABLE 1 Subcarrier indication field (I_(sc)) Set of Allocatedsubcarriers (n_(sc)) 0-3 3I_(sc) + {Y, Y + 1} 4-7 3(I_(sc) − 4) + {0, 1,2} 8-9 6(I_(sc) − 8) + {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} 10-15 Reserved, or PRB 0, 1,2, 3, 4 or 6 within the NB

Table 1 illustrates an example of allocated subcarriers for PUSCHsub-PRB allocation in accordance with some embodiments. The I_(SC) isthe subcarrier indication in DCI, and Y may either be 0 or 1, which maybe fixed in a TS, configured by RRC signaling, or indicated by DCI(e.g., via 1 bit). For example, consider I_(SC) is signaled as 3 and Yis set at 0, then the set of allocated subcarriers, n_(sc), may be 9 or10.

As another example of these embodiments, the use of 2 or 3 tones withinallocated 3 subcarriers can be configured by RRC signaling or via 1-bitin DCI, and 3 bits can be used for allocation of 3 or 6 subcarriers, asillustrated in Table 2. The two unused states in this example can bereserved, or be used for 1-PRB allocation. In other words, when thesubcarrier indication field indicates 0-3, RRC signaling or 1 bit in DCIcan be used to indicate whether all the allocated 3 subcarriers are usedfor PUSCH transmission, or only 2 out of the allocated 3 subcarriers areused for PUSCH transmission.

TABLE 2 Subcarrier indication field (I_(sc)) Set of Allocatedsubcarriers (n_(sc)) 0-3 3I_(sc) + {0, 1, 2} 4-5 6(I_(sc) − 4) + {0, 1,2, 3, 4, 5} 6-7 Reserved, or PRB from set X

Table 2 illustrates an example of allocated subcarriers for PUSCHsub-PRB allocation in accordance with some embodiments. The I_(SC) isthe subcarrier indication in DCI, and set X can be any subset of {0, 1,2, 3, 4, 5} with cardinality no more than 2. For example, if I_(SC)=0,then the DCI indicates subcarriers {0, 1, 2} as the 3 subcarriers to beallocated.

In other embodiments, for cases where the 3-subcarrier allocation setscan be overlapped for 2 out of 3 subcarrier allocation, the 2subcarriers can be signaled by RRC signaling or DCI directly (e.g.,without indication of allocated 3 subcarriers first). In theseembodiments, the allocation of 3 subcarriers may be implicit, forexample, once the 2 subcarriers are allocated, the 3 subcarriers may bethe one which includes the 2 subcarriers. For example, if subcarriers{4, 5} are allocated for the PUSCH transmission, the allocated 3subcarriers can be {3, 4, 5} or {4, 5, 6} depending on definition of 3subcarriers.

As one example of these embodiments, the 2-subcarrier allocation can benon-overlapped within 1 PRB, for example, the allocation can besubcarriers {0, 1}, {2, 3}, {4, 5}, {6, 7}, {8, 9} or {10, 11}. Variousembodiments may be used for indication of allocation with 2, 3 and 6subcarriers. For example, 4 bits can be used for the indication ofallocated subcarriers, where 2-tone allocations can use2*(I_(SC)−X2)+{0, 1}, 3-tone allocations can use 3*(I_(SC)−X3)+{0, 1,2}, and 6-tone allocation can use 6*(I_(SC)−X6)+{0, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5},with {X2=0, X3=6, X6=10}, and I_(SC) from 0 to 5, from 6 to 9 and from10 to 11 for 2-tone, 3-tone and 6-tone allocations, respectively. Theremay be four unused states, which can be reserved, or used for indicationof 1-PRB allocation. Table 3 provides an example of this embodiment.

TABLE 3 Subcarrier indication field (I_(sc)) Set of Allocatedsubcarriers (n_(sc)) 0-5 2I_(sc) + {0, 1} 6-9 3(I_(sc) − 6) + {0, 1, 2}10-11 6(I_(sc) − 10) + {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} 12-15 Reserved, or PRB fromset X

Table 3 illustrates another example of allocated subcarriers for sub-PRBPUSCH allocation in accordance with some embodiments. The I_(SC) is thesubcarrier indication in DCI, and set X can be any subset of {0, 1, 2,3, 4, 5} with cardinality no more than 4.

In various embodiments, modulation, redundancy version (RV) cycling,resource unit (RU) indication, and frequency hopping (FH) scheme mayalso be used.

DMRS

Some embodiments may include one or more of the following DMRS designs.The DMRS with length of N can be mapped to 4th symbol in each slot(which has 7 symbols) within duration of N/4 ms, for example forexample, N=2, 12 or 16. For DMRS with length of 12 or 16, the DMRSsequences defined in NB-IoT with length of 12 or 16 can be used.

FIG. 2 illustrates a resource grid 200 with an example of the DMRSmapping with length-12 DMRS in accordance with some embodiments. Thenumber n within the DMRS element indicates the n^(th) element of theDMRS sequence.

The length-12 DMRS may be carried by 12 resource elements distributedthroughout a 2-tone PUSCH (shown on subcarriers 0 and 1) in six DMRSsymbols over six slots. The DMRS may be mapped in a frequency firstmanner with the portions of the DMRS mapped sequentially to eachsubcarrier of a particular symbol before moving on to the next symbol.For example, DMRS_0 (the first element of the DMRS sequence) may becarried by the resource element at symbol 3, subcarrier 1 of the firstslot; DMRS_1 may be carried by resource element at symbol 3, subcarrier0 of the first slot; etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates a resource grid 300 with an example of the DMRSmapping with length-16 DMRS in accordance with some embodiments. Thenumber n within the DMRS element indicates the n^(th) element of theDMRS sequence.

The length-16 DMRS may be carried by 16 resource elements distributedthroughout a 2-tone PUSCH (shown on subcarriers 0 and 1) in eight DMRSsymbols over eight slots. In this embodiment, the DMRS sequence may bemapped in a time first manner with the portions of the DMRS mappedsequentially to the different symbols of a first subcarrier beforeproceeding to the symbols of the next subcarrier. For example, DMRS_0may be carried by the resource element at symbol 3, subcarrier 1 of thefirst slot; DMRS_1 may be carried by resource element at symbol 10,subcarrier 1 of the second slot; etc.

In some embodiments, the length-16 DMRS of FIG. 3 can reuse the DMRSdesigned in NB-IoT for single-tone NPUSCH, which is an element-wiseproduct of pseudo noise (PN)/Gold-sequence (not physical cell identity(PCID)-dependent) and Hadamard sequence (PCID-dependent). The length-16DMRS sequence can be used when the resource unit (RU) for PUSCH with 2out of 3 subcarriers is defined as 4 ms or 8 ms. With RU of 8 ms, theDMRS within the first 4 ms and last 4 ms would be the same.

FIG. 4 illustrates a resource grid 400 with an example of a DMRS mappingwith two length-16 DMRS in accordance with some embodiments. The numbern within the DMRS element indicates the n^(th) element of the DMRSsequence.

In this embodiment two length-16 DMRS sequences may be mapped to the twosubcarriers allocated for PUSCH transmission. In this embodiment, afirst DMRS sequence may be mapped to eight symbols of a first subcarrier(for example, subcarriers 1); while a second DMRS sequence may be mappedto the same eight symbols of a second subcarrier (for example,subcarrier 0).

In some embodiments, r_(u)(n) as defined in 3GPP TS 36.211 v15.0.0(2018-01), Section 10.1.4.1.1 may be used as a DMRS sequence mapped to afirst tone, where u depends on a cell ID as in Rel-13 NB-IoT. In oneexample, the same DMRS sequence may be mapped to the second tone.Alternatively, another sequence, for example, rx(n), may be used inmapped to the second subcarrier across the 16 DMRS symbols. Theparameter x can be determined based on a predefined mapping from u,e.g., x=(u+m) mod 16, where m can be an integer such as 1, 2, 4 or 8.The first example above with the same sequence applied to two toneswould be a special case of this alternative when m=0.

In some embodiments, there may be a fixed offset from a sequence indexused for the first tone to a sequence index used for the other tone. Forexample, the parameter m can be specified in a TS or configured by theeNB (e.g., via RRC signaling). As another example, m can depend on cellID, e.g., m=cell ID mod N, where N is the number of possible values form.

In yet another example, the sequence index used for the other tone canbe selected randomly according to a predefined sequence s(k) from 0 to15 (e.g., s(k)=k where k=0, 1, . . . , 15). The sequence index can bex=(u+s(m)) mod 16, where m can be the starting subframe (SF)/slot indexof the PUSCH transmission, or the starting/slot index of the first DMRSsymbol among the 16 symbols, or the starting/slot index+cell ID, or anyother function of the starting/slot index and/or cell ID.

Alternatively, we can have x=(u+s(m)) mod 16, where s(m) is a functionof a random sequence, which may depend on the starting/slot index of thefirst DMRS symbol among 16 DMRS symbols, starting/slot index of PUSCHtransmission, and/or cell ID. For example, s(m)=ƒ(c(m)), where ƒ(x) isthe binary-to-decimal function with x being a binary sequence, and c(m)can be a length-31 gold sequence which can be generated according toSection 7.2 in 3GPP TS 36.211, with c_init being a predefined parameter(which can be specified in the TS or configured by an access node (e.g.,an eNB) via, e.g., system information) or being a function ofstarting/slot index of the first DMRS symbol among 16 DMRS symbols,starting/slot index of PUSCH transmission, and/or cell ID. In oneexample, N elements out of the gold sequence can be used (e.g., c(0),c(1), . . . , c(N−1)) as a binary sequence input for function ƒ( ),where N is a positive integer such as 4 or 8. The initialization of thebinary sequence c_init can be:

c _(init)=(└n _(s)/2┘+1)·(2n _(ID) ^(cell)+1)·2¹⁶ +n _(SCID),

where n_(s) can be the starting slot index of first DMRS symbol among 16DMRS symbols or the starting slot index of PUSCH transmission, n_(ID)^(cell) is the cell ID, and the value of n_(SCID) can be zero or beindicated by an access node (e.g., eNB) (e.g., via RRC signaling orDCI). With N=4 and c_init in the above example, we can generate a binarysequence c(0), c(1), c(2) and c(3) depending on the cell ID andscheduling time of PUSCH, and the sequence index for the secondsubcarrier can be x=(u+bin2dec(c(0)c(1)c(2)c(3))) mod 16.

Alternatively, c_init can be a function of cell ID only, e.g.,c_init=cell ID, or c_(init)=(2n_(ID) ^(cell)+1)·2¹⁶, and m can be afunction that depends on the starting slot index of first DMRS symbolamong 16 DMRS symbols or the starting slot index of PUSCH transmission.For example, m can be a sequence of t, t+1, . . . , t+N−1, where t is astarting slot index of first DMRS symbol among 16 DMRS symbols or thestarting slot index of PUSCH transmission, and in this case the binarysequence input for function ƒ( ) is c(t), c(t+1), . . . , c(t+N−1).

When group hopping is enabled, m can be the same as the case when grouphopping is not enabled, or alternatively m can be a function of grouphopping pattern and/or sequence-shift pattern as u, e.g.,m=(fgh(ns)+fss) mod N, where N is the number of possible values for m.

As another alternative, a length-8 DMRS may be defined. The sequence canbe an element-wise product of PN/Gold-sequence (not PCID-dependent) andlength-8 Hadamard sequence (PCID-dependent). For example, the referencesignal sequence can be:

${{{\overset{\_}{r}}_{u}(n)} = {\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left( {1 + j} \right)\left( {1 - {2{c(n)}}} \right){w\left( {n\; {mod}\; 8} \right)}}},{0 \leq n < {M_{rep}^{NPUSCH}N_{slots}^{UL}N_{RU}}},$

where c(n) is defined in Section 7.2 of 3GPP TS 36.211. The value ofw(n) can be defined as shown by table 4.

TABLE 4 Definition of w(n) u w(0), . . . , w(7) 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 −11 −1 1 −1 1 −1 2 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 3 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 4 1 1 1 1 −1−1 −1 −1 5 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 6 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 1 7 1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 1−1

In some embodiments, the parameter u=cell ID mod 8 if group hopping isnot enabled, and u depends on group hopping pattern and sequence-shiftpattern as defined in 10.1.4.1.3 in 3GPP TS 36.211 if group hopping isenabled. The mapping of the length-8 DMRS sequences can be similar asthe methods disclosed above for length-16 DMRS. For example, thelength-8 DMRS sequence, e.g., r_(u)(n) as defined above, can be mappedto first tone across 8 DMRS symbols. For the second tone below the firsttone which is also allocated for PUSCH, in one embodiment, the samesequence r_(u)(n) can be used, e.g., the sequence is mapped across 8symbols and repeated in frequency domain. Alternatively, anotherlength-8 sequence rx(n) can be used, mapping on the other tone allocatedfor PUSCH across 8 DMRS symbols, where x can be a function of u, e.g.,x=(u+n) mod 8 with n being an integer such as 1, 2 or 4, or x=(u+cellID) mod 8. In other examples, the mapping options between x and udiscussed in embodiment with length-16 DMRS sequence can be applied tothis embodiment as well.

Note that for the above embodiments with 2-tone BPSK DMRS symbols, afterDFT precoding, it would be transmitted on one out of these twosubcarriers, and thus the peak-to-average-power-ratio (PAPR) can be thesame as single-tone transmission.

In another embodiment, a length-3 DMRS sequence (following NB-IoTdesign) can be used, where the UE transmits DMRS on the allocated 3subcarriers while PUSCH is sent on 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers.This can be applied when the 3-subcarrier allocation sets are notoverlapped for different UEs in the cell. FIG. 4 provides an example oflength-3 DMRS mapping. FIG. 5 illustrates a resource grid 500 with anexample DMRS mapping with length-3 DMRS sequence in accordance with someembodiments. The number n within the DMRS element indicates the n^(th)element of the DMRS sequence.

As another example, length-6 DMRS sequence (following NB-IoT design) canbe used, where the UE transmits DMRS on the 6 subcarriers which includethe 2 subcarriers with actual PUSCH transmission. The 6 subcarriers maybe non-overlapped as defined in NB-IoT. The cyclic shifts and basesequence index can be changed to be UE specific, and be indicated by theDCI. For example, 1 or 2 bits can be used to indicate the cyclic shiftand/or base sequence index. As another example, the cyclic shifts orbase sequence index can be based on UE ID, e.g., (UE ID mod number ofsupported cyclic shifts and/or base sequences). Alternatively, thecyclic shift or base sequence can be indicated by RRC signaling. Bymaking the cyclic shift and/or base sequence index UE specific, the DMRSfor UEs whose 2 subcarriers for PUSCH transmission belong to the sameset of 6 subcarriers can be multiplexed. FIG. 6 illustrates a resourcegrid 600 with an example of length-6 DMRS mapping in accordance withsome embodiments. The number n within the DMRS element indicates then^(th) element of the DMRS sequence.

TBS Table Design

In some embodiments, a Rel-13 eMTC PUSCH TBS table can be used as thedesign baseline for sub-PRB PUSCH. For coverage enhancement (CE) mode A,the number of PRBs can be replaced by number of RUs for sub-PRB design.On the other hand, for CE mode B, some columns corresponding to certainnumber of PRBs can be selected to determine the TBS values. Table 5below shows the Rel-13 eMTC TBS table with I_(TBS)<=10.

TABLE 5 N_(PRB) I_(TBS) 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 16 32 56 88 120 152 1 24 56 88 144176 208 2 32 72 144 176 208 256 3 40 104 176 208 256 328 4 56 120 208256 328 408 5 72 144 224 328 424 504 6 328 176 256 392 504 600 7 104 224328 472 584 712 8 120 256 392 536 680 808 9 136 296 456 616 776 936 10144 328 504 680 872

Recall that in Rel-13 eMTC CE mode B, the TBS with allocated number ofPRBs being 1 is determined by the column associated to 3 PRBs, while theTBS with allocated number of PRBs being 2 is determined by the columnassociated to 6 PRBs. Similarly for sub-PRB allocation, in one example,when the number of RUs allocated for PUSCH in CE mode B is 1 and 2, theTBS can be determined by the columns associated to 3 and 6 PRBs in Table5, respectively. Alternatively, the TBS for allocated number of RUsbeing N1 and N2 in CE mode B can be determined by the columns associatedto 3 and 6 PRBs in Table 5, respectively, where N1 and N2 are integers(e.g., N1=2 and N2=4).

In various embodiments, either the first example or second example maybe used for all sub-PRB allocations. Alternatively, the first examplemay only apply to 3-tone and 6-tone PUSCH, while for 2-tone PUSCH, thesecond example with N1=2 and N2=4 may be used.

Power Control

In some embodiments, the power control mechanism for sub-PRB PUSCH inefeMTC can follow NB-IoT NPUSCH power control mechanism.

Specifically, if a number of repetitions of allocated RUs for sub-PRBPUSCH is larger than 2, UE may use max configured transmit powerP_(CMAX,c)(i); otherwise, the following power control scheme may beused:

${{P_{{PUSCH},c}(i)} = {\min {\begin{Bmatrix}{P_{{CMAX},c}(i)} \\{{10\; {\log_{10}\left( {M_{{PUSCH},c}(i)} \right)}} + {P_{{O\_ PUSCH},c}(j)} + {{\alpha_{c}(j)} \cdot {PL}_{c}}}\end{Bmatrix}\mspace{11mu}\lbrack{dBm}\rbrack}}},$

where, P_(CMAX,c)(i) is the configured UE transmit power defined in 3GPPTS 36.101 v15.1.0 (2018-01) in uplink (UL) slot i for serving cell c,and M_(PUSCH,c)(i) is from set X and reflects a number of subcarriersthe actual sub-PRB PUSCH transmission occupied.

In some embodiments, X={2, 3, 6, 12}, where 2 may be used when 2 out of3 subcarriers are allocated for sub-PRB PUSCH transmission. In thisembodiment, if 1 PRB is allocated when UE is configured with sub-PRBPUSCH transmission, power control may still use this technique andM_(PUSCH,c)(i)=12, while >1 PRB allocation follows pre-release eMTC ULpower control.

Alternatively, X={2, 3, 6}, where 2 may be used when 2 out of 3subcarriers are allocated for sub-PRB PUSCH transmission. When PUSCHresource allocation is >=1 PRB, power control follows pre-release eMTCUL power control.

P_(O_PUSCH,c)(j) is a parameter composed of the sum of a componentP_(O_NOMINAL_PUSCH,c)(j) provided from higher layers and a componentP_(O_UE_PUSCH,c)(j) provided by higher layers for j=1 and for servingcell c where j∈{1, 2}. In some embodiments, these parameters can bedifferent from the parameters used in power control mechanism for PUSCHwith resource allocation granularity of 1 PRB.

For PUSCH (re)transmissions corresponding to a dynamic scheduled grantthen j=1 and for PUSCH (re)transmissions corresponding to the randomaccess response grant (if sub-PRB PUSCH is supported for this PUSCH)then j=2.

In some embodiments, P_(O_UE_PUSCH,c)(2)=0 andP_(O_NOMINAL_PUSCH,c)(2)=P_(O_PRE)+Δ_(PREAMBLE_Msg3), where theparameter preambleInitialReceivedTargetPower [36.321] (P_(O_PRE)) andΔ_(PREAMBLE_Msg3) are signalled from higher layers for serving cell c.

For j=1, α_(c)(j) is provided by higher layers for serving cell c. Forj=2, α_(c)(j)=1.

PL_(c) is a downlink path loss estimate calculated in the UE for servingcell c in dB and PL_(c)=referenceSignalPower−higher layer filtered RSRP,where referenceSignalPower is provided by higher layers and RSRP isdefined in 3GPP TS 36.214 v15.0.1 (2018-01) for serving cell c and thehigher layer filter configuration is defined in 3GPP TS 36.331 v15.0.1(2018-01) for serving cell c.

Repetition Cycles

In some embodiments, the repetition cycles can be as follows.

In each cycle of one redundancy version (RV), each subframe (or NB-slotif introduced to support a smaller subcarrier spacing) in the allocatedresources may be repeated consecutively for Z times.

In some embodiments, Z min{M, repetition/N}, where M and N may be aninteger number e.g., M=4, N=2 or N=4. This can be applied to all sub-PRBallocation, or certain multi-tone sub-PRB allocation (e.g., 3-subcarrierand 6-subcarrier PUSCH). In some examples, M and N can have differentvalues for FDD and TDD, e.g., M=4 for FDD and M=5 for TDD.

In some embodiments, Z=1. This can be applied to all sub-PRB allocation,or only certain sub-PRB allocations (e.g., PUSCH with 2 out of 3allocated subcarriers). Alternatively, this can be applied to allsub-PRB allocation in CE mode A.

To better align with FH interval, the same subframe can be repeatedwithin a block of Nacc subframes, where the first subframe in each blockof Nacc consecutive subframes, denoted as n satisfies (n mod Nacc) 0.The Nacc equals Z in above embodiments. In other words, the start ofrepetition cycle may be based on absolute system frame number (SFN).

Impact on TDD Systems

In some embodiments, the support of sub-PRB allocation in TDD systemsmay depend on the number of subcarriers for the sub-PRB allocationsand/or the TDD configurations.

In some embodiments, 2-subcarrier PUSCH can be supported only in certainTDD configurations. For example, if RU length is 4 or 8 ms for2-subcarrier PUSCH, only TDD configurations 1, 2, 4, 5 and/or 6 support2-subcarrier PUSCH. Alternatively, if RU length is 3 or 6 ms for2-subcarrier PUSCH, only TDD configurations 0, 3 and/or 6 support2-subcarrier PUSCH. For RU length of 6 ms, TDD configurations 2 and/or 4can also support 2-subcarrier PUSCH.

In other embodiments, 2-subcarrier PUSCH can be supported in all TDDconfigurations.

FIG. 7 illustrates an operation flow/algorithmic structure 700 inaccordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the operationflow/algorithmic structure 700 may be performed or implemented by anaccess node or components thereof (for example, baseband circuitry) asdescribed herein.

The operation flow/algorithmic structure 700 may include, at 704,receiving an indication of capability information. The capabilityinformation may be related to a UE's ability to support or otherwiseutilize sub-PRB PUSCH allocations. In some embodiments, the capabilityinformation may indicate support for 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers; 3subcarriers; or 6 subcarriers.

The operation flow/algorithmic structure 700 may further include, at708, constructing a configuration message. The configuration message maybe based on the capability information and may configure the UE withvarious parameters that may relate to utilizing sub-PRB PUSCHallocations. For example, the configuration message may includeconfiguration information that is related to a numerology, resourceallocation, DMRS design, power control, TDD scheme, etc. It may beunderstood that these parameters may be transmitted to the UE in anumber of configuration message is sent over time.

The operation flow/algorithmic structure 700 may further include, at712, causing transmission of the configuration message.

FIG. 8 illustrates an operation flow/algorithmic structure 800 inaccordance with some embodiments. The operation flow/algorithmicstructure 800 may be performed or implemented by a UE or componentsthereof (for example, baseband circuitry) as described herein.

The operation flow/algorithmic structure 800 may include, at 804,providing capability information. In some embodiments, the capabilityinformation may be related to support or use of sub-PRB PUSCHallocations. The capability information may be provided to the accessnode in one or more messages.

The operation flow/algorithmic structure 800 may further include, at808, receiving configuration/allocation information. Theconfiguration/allocation information may provide various informationrelated to the use of sub-PRB PUSCH allocations. In some embodiments,the configuration information may be received initially to configure theUE. Subsequently, allocation information may be provided to the UE toindicate a specific allocation of resources.

The operation flow/algorithmic structure 800 may further include, at812, generating and causing transmission of DMRS/PUSCH. The DMRS/PUSCHmay be transmitted in the sub-PRB allocation as described herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates an operation flow/algorithmic structure 900 inaccordance with some embodiments. The operation flow/algorithmicstructure 900 may be performed or implemented by a UE or componentsthereof (for example, baseband circuitry) as described herein.

The operation flow/algorithmic structure 900 may include, at 904,mapping a DMRS to resource elements within a sub-PRB PUSCH allocation.In some embodiments, elements of a DMRS sequence may be mapped in afrequency first manner with portions of the DMRS sequence mappedsequentially to each subcarrier of a particular symbol before moving onto the next symbol. Alternatively, the DMRS sequence may be mapped in atime first manner with the portions of the DMRS sequence mappedsequentially to the different symbols of a first subcarrier beforeproceeding to the symbols of the next subcarrier. In some embodiments,one or more DMRS sequences may be mapped to the resource elements fortransmission.

The operation flow/algorithmic structure 900 may further include, at908, causing the DMRS to be transmitted.

FIG. 10 illustrates a process in accordance with some embodiments. Theprocess 1000 may be performed by an electronic device(s), network(s),system(s), chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementationsthereof, as described herein. The process 1000 may include, at 1004,constructing or causing to construct a signal that includes anindication of a sub-PRB allocation for PUSCH in efeMTC. The process 1000may further include, at 1008, sending or causing to send the signal thatincludes the indication of the sub-PRB allocation for PUSCH to one ormore UEs.

FIG. 11 illustrates an architecture of a system 1100 of a network inaccordance with some embodiments. The system 1100 is shown to include auser equipment (UE) 1101 and a UE 1102, either of which may be similarto and substantially interchangeable with UE 104. As used herein, theterm “user equipment” or “UE” may refer to a device with radiocommunication capabilities and may describe a remote user of networkresources in a communications network. The term “user equipment” or “UE”may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as client,mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit,mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, accessagent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radioequipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term“user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wired deviceor any computing device including a wireless communications interface.In this example, UEs 1101 and 1102 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g.,handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or morecellular networks), but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobilecomputing device, such as consumer electronics devices, cellular phones,smartphones, feature phones, tablet computers, wearable computerdevices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handsets,desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI),in-car entertainment (ICE) devices, an Instrument Cluster (IC), head-updisplay (HUD) devices, onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobileequipment (DME), mobile data terminals (MDTs), Electronic EngineManagement System (EEMS), electronic/engine control units (ECUs),electronic/engine control modules (ECMs), embedded systems,microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS),networked or “smart” appliances, machine-type communications (MTC)devices, machine-to-machine (M2M), Internet of Things (IoT) devices,and/or the like.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 1101 and 1102 can be configured forefeMTC communication and may, in some instances, comprise an Internet ofThings (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed forlow-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoTUE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) ormachine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC serveror device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-BasedService (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensornetworks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be amachine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describesinterconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiableembedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), withshort-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications(e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate theconnections of the IoT network.

The UEs 1101 and 1102 may be configured to connect, e.g.,communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 1110. The RAN1110 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN), a NextGen RAN(NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 1101 and 1102 utilizeconnections (or channels) 1103 and 1104, respectively, each of whichcomprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed infurther detail infra). As used herein, the term “channel” may refer toany transmission medium, either tangible or intangible, which is used tocommunicate data or a data stream. The term “channel” may be synonymouswith and/or equivalent to “communications channel,” “data communicationschannel,” “transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “accesschannel,” “data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,”“radiofrequency carrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathwayor medium through which data is communicated. Additionally, the term“link” may refer to a connection between two devices through a RadioAccess Technology (RAT) for the purpose of transmitting and receivinginformation. In this example, the connections 1103 and 1104 areillustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, andcan be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as aGlobal System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-divisionmultiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol,a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution(LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR)protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 1101 and 1102 may further directly exchangecommunication data via a ProSe interface 1105. The ProSe interface 1105may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink (SL) interface comprisingone or more logical channels, including but not limited to a PhysicalSidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel(PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a PhysicalSidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH). In various implementations, the SLinterface 1105 may be used in vehicular applications and communicationstechnologies, which are often referred to as V2X systems. V2X is a modeof communication where UEs (for example, UEs 1101, 1102) communicatewith each other directly over the PC5/SL interface 1105 and can takeplace when the UEs 1101, 1102 are served by RAN nodes 1111, 1112 or whenone or more UEs are outside a coverage area of the RAN 1110. V2X may beclassified into four different types: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicleto-infrastructure (V21), vehicle-to-network (V2N), andvehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P). These V2X applications can use“co-operative awareness” to provide more intelligent services forend-users. For example, vehicle UEs (vUEs) 1101, 1102, RAN nodes 1111,1112, application servers 1130, and pedestrian UEs 1101, 1102 maycollect knowledge of their local environment (for example, informationreceived from other vehicles or sensor equipment in proximity) toprocess and share that knowledge in order to provide more intelligentservices, such as cooperative collision warning, autonomous driving, andthe like. In these implementations, the UEs 1101, 1102 may beimplemented/employed as Vehicle Embedded Communications Systems (VECS)or vUEs.

The UE 1102 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP)1106 (also referred to as “WLAN node 1106”, “WLAN 1106”, “WLANTermination 1106” or “WT 1106” or the like) via connection 1107. Theconnection 1107 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as aconnection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 1106would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, theAP 1106 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting tothe core network of the wireless system (described in further detailbelow). In various embodiments, the UE 1102, RAN 1110, and AP 1106 maybe configured to utilize LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) operation and/orWLAN LTE/WLAN Radio Level Integration with IPsec Tunnel (LWIP)operation. The LWA operation may involve the UE 1102 in RRC_CONNECTEDbeing configured by a RAN node 1111, 1112 to utilize radio resources ofLTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve the UE 1102 using WLAN radioresources (e.g., connection 1107) via Internet Protocol Security (IPsec)protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., internetprotocol (IP) packets) sent over the connection 1107. IPsec tunnelingmay include encapsulating entirety of original IP packets and adding anew packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IPpackets.

The RAN 1110 can include one or more access nodes, e.g., RAN nodes 1111,1112, that enable the connections 1103 and 1104. The RAN nodes 1111,1112 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with accessnode 108. As used herein, the terms “access node,” “access point,” orthe like may describe equipment that provides the radio basebandfunctions for data and/or voice connectivity between a network and oneor more users. These access nodes can be referred to as base stations(BS), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNB), RANnodes, Road Side Units (RSUs), and so forth, and can comprise groundstations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stationsproviding coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The term“Road Side Unit” or “RSU” may refer to any transportation infrastructureentity implemented in or by a gNB/eNB/RAN node or a stationary (orrelatively stationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may bereferred to as a “UE-type RSU”, an RSU implemented in or by an eNB maybe referred to as an “eNB-type RSU.” The RAN 1110 may include one ormore RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node 1111, andone or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cellshaving smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higherbandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 1112.

Any of the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 can terminate the air interfaceprotocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 1101 and1102. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 canfulfill various logical functions for the RAN 1110 including, but notlimited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radiobearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource managementand data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 1101 and 1102 can beconfigured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any ofthe RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 over a multicarrier communication channel inaccordance with various communication techniques, such as, but notlimited to, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SingleCarrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communicationtechnique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications),although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 to the UEs 1101and 1102, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. Thegrid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid ortime-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in thedownlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is acommon practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radioresource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource gridcorresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively.The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to oneslot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resourcegrid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises anumber of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certainphysical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises acollection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this mayrepresent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can beallocated. There are several different physical downlink channels thatare conveyed using such resource blocks.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data andhigher-layer signaling to the UEs 1101 and 1102. The physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport formatand resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among otherthings. It may also inform the UEs 1101 and 1102 about the transportformat, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request)information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlinkscheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to theUE 1102 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 1111 and1112 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs1101 and 1102. The downlink resource assignment information may be senton the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 1101 and 1102.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the controlinformation. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCHcomplex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, whichmay then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching.Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, whereeach CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase ShiftKeying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can betransmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of thedownlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There canbe four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with differentnumbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physicaldownlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for controlinformation transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one ormore enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, eachECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may haveother numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN 1110 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network(CN) 1120 via an S1 interface 1113. In embodiments, the CN 1120 may bean evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC)network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface1113 is split into two parts: the S1-U interface 1114, which carriestraffic data between the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 and the serving gateway(S-GW) 1122, and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 1115,which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 andMMEs 1121.

In this embodiment, the CN 1120 comprises the MMEs 1121, the S-GW 1122,the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 1123, and a home subscriberserver (HSS) 1124. The MMEs 1121 may be similar in function to thecontrol plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 1121 may manage mobility aspects inaccess such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. TheHSS 1124 may comprise a database for network users, includingsubscription-related information to support the network entities'handling of communication sessions. The CN 1120 may comprise one orseveral HSSs 1124, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on thecapacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. Forexample, the HSS 1124 can provide support for routing/roaming,authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, locationdependencies, etc.

The S-GW 1122 may terminate the S1 interface 1113 towards the RAN 1110,and routes data packets between the RAN 1110 and the CN 1120. Inaddition, the S-GW 1122 may be a local mobility anchor point forinter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPPmobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging,and some policy enforcement.

The P-GW 1123 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 1123may route data packets between the EPC network 1120 and externalnetworks such as a network including the application server 1130(alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an InternetProtocol (IP) interface 1125. Generally, the application server 1130 maybe an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources withthe core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS dataservices, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 1123 is shown to becommunicatively coupled to an application server 1130 via an IPcommunications interface 1125. The application server 1130 can also beconfigured to support one or more communication services (e.g.,Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, groupcommunication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs1101 and 1102 via the CN 1120.

The P-GW 1123 may further be a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection. Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 1126 is thepolicy and charging control element of the CN 1120. In a non-roamingscenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land MobileNetwork (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol ConnectivityAccess Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with localbreakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE'sIP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within an HPLMN and a Visited PCRF(V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF1126 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 1130 viathe P-GW 1123. The application server 1130 may signal the PCRF 1126 toindicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality ofService (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 1126 may provision thisrule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown)with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class ofidentifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified bythe application server 1130.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment 1200 inaccordance with various embodiments. The infrastructure equipment 1200(or “system 1200”) may be implemented as a base station, radio head, RANnode, etc., such as the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112, and/or AP 1106 shownand described previously. In other examples, the system 1200 could beimplemented in or by a UE, application server(s) 1130, and/or any otherelement/device discussed herein. The system 1200 may include one or moreof application circuitry 1205, baseband circuitry 1210, one or moreradio front end modules 1215, memory 1220, power management integratedcircuitry (PMIC) 1225, power tee circuitry 1230, network controller1235, network interface connector 1240, satellite positioning circuitry1245, and user interface 1250. In some embodiments, the device 1300 mayinclude additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage,display, camera, sensor, or input/output (110) interface. In otherembodiments, the components described below may be included in more thanone device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in morethan one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, is part of, orincludes hardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logiccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group), an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC), a field-programmable device (FPD) (for example, afield-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD),a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, ora programmable System on Chip (SoC)), digital signal processors (DSPs),etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. Insome embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software orfirmware programs to provide at least some of the describedfunctionality. In addition, the term “circuitry” may also refer to acombination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination ofcircuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the programcode used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In theseembodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code maybe referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The terms “application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may beconsidered synonymous to, and may be referred to as “processorcircuitry.” As used herein, the term “processor circuitry” may refer to,is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially andautomatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logicaloperations; and recording, storing, and/or transferring digital data.The term “processor circuitry” may refer to one or more applicationprocessors, one or more baseband processors, a physical centralprocessing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, atriple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and/or any other devicecapable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executableinstructions, such as program code, software modules, and/or functionalprocesses.

Furthermore, the various components of the core network 1120 may bereferred to as “network elements.” The term “network element” maydescribe a physical or virtualized equipment used to provide wired orwireless communication network services. The term “network element” maybe considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer,networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch,hub, bridge, radio network controller, radio access network device,gateway, server, virtualized network function (VNF), network functionsvirtualization infrastructure (NFVI), and/or the like.

Application circuitry 1205 may include one or more central processingunit (CPU) cores and one or more of cache memory, low drop-out voltageregulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI,I²C or universal programmable serial interface module, real time clock(RTC), timer-counters including interval and watchdog timers, generalpurpose input/output (I/O or IO), memory card controllers such as SecureDigital (SD/)MultiMediaCard (MMC) or similar, Universal Serial Bus (USB)interfaces, Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) interfaces andJoint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access ports. As examples, theapplication circuitry 1205 may include one or more Intel Pentium®,Core®, or Xeon® processor(s); Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen®processor(s), Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or Epyc® processors;and/or the like. In some embodiments, the system 1200 may not utilizeapplication circuitry 1205, and instead may include a special-purposeprocessor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC or 5GC, forexample.

Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 1205 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field-programmabledevices (FPDs) such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and thelike; programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs),high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs such as structuredASICs and the like; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In suchembodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 1205 may compriselogic blocks or logic fabric including other interconnected resourcesthat may be programmed to perform various functions, such as theprocedures, methods, functions, etc. of the various embodimentsdiscussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of applicationcircuitry 1205 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random accessmemory (SRAM), anti-fuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logicfabric, data, etc. in lookup-tables (LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 1210 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Althoughnot shown, baseband circuitry 1210 may comprise one or more digitalbaseband systems, which may be coupled via an interconnect subsystem toa CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interface subsystem. Thedigital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to a digital basebandinterface and a mixed-signal baseband sub-system via anotherinterconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems may includea bus system, point-to-point connections, network-on-chip (NOC)structures, and/or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology,such as those discussed herein. The audio sub-system may include digitalsignal processing circuitry, buffer memory, program memory, speechprocessing accelerator circuitry, data converter circuitry such asanalog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter circuitry, analogcircuitry including one or more of amplifiers and filters, and/or otherlike components. In an aspect of the present disclosure, basebandcircuitry 1210 may include protocol processing circuitry with one ormore instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide controlfunctions for the digital baseband circuitry and/or radio frequencycircuitry (for example, the radio front end modules 1215).

User interface circuitry 1250 may include one or more user interfacesdesigned to enable user interaction with the system 1200 or peripheralcomponent interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interactionwith the system 1200. User interfaces may include, but are not limitedto, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), oneor more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physicalkeyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, speakers orother audio emitting devices, microphones, a printer, a scanner, aheadset, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral componentinterfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memoryport, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

The radio front end modules (RFEMs) 1215 may comprise a millimeter waveRFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or moresub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from themillimeter wave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to one or moreantennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multipleantennas. In alternative implementations, both millimeter wave andsub-millimeter wave radio functions may be implemented in the samephysical radio front end module 1215. The RFEMs 1215 may incorporateboth millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter wave antennas.

The memory circuitry 1220 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®. Memory circuitry 1220 may be implemented as one or more ofsolder down packaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules andplug-in memory cards.

The PMIC 1225 may include voltage regulators, surge protectors, poweralarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources such asa battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuitry may detectone or more of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage)conditions. The power tee circuitry 1230 may provide for electricalpower drawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the infrastructure equipment 1200 using a single cable.

The network controller circuitry 1235 may provide connectivity to anetwork using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet,Ethernet over GRE Tunnels, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may beprovided to/from the infrastructure equipment 1200 via network interfaceconnector 1240 using a physical connection, which may be electrical(commonly referred to as a “copper interconnect”), optical, or wireless.The network controller circuitry 1235 may include one or more dedicatedprocessors and/or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of theaforementioned protocol. In some implementations, the network controllercircuitry 1235 may include multiple controllers to provide connectivityto other networks using the same or different protocols.

The positioning circuitry 1245 may include circuitry to receive anddecode signals transmitted by one or more navigation satelliteconstellations of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Examplesof navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include UnitedStates' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global NavigationSystem (GLONASS), the European Union's Galileo system, China's BeiDouNavigation Satellite System, a regional navigation system or GNSSaugmentation system (e.g., Navigation with Indian Constellation (NAVIC),Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's DopplerOrbitography and Radio-positioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS),etc.), or the like. The positioning circuitry 1245 may comprise varioushardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches,filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like to facilitate thecommunications over-the-air (OTA) communications) to communicate withcomponents of a positioning network, such as navigation satelliteconstellation nodes.

Nodes or satellites of the navigation satellite constellation(s) (“GNSSnodes”) may provide positioning services by continuously transmitting orbroadcasting GNSS signals along a line of sight, which may be used byGNSS receivers (e.g., positioning circuitry 1245 and/or positioningcircuitry implemented by UEs 1101, 1102, or the like) to determine theirGNSS position. The GNSS signals may include a pseudorandom code (e.g., asequence of ones and zeros) that is known to the GNSS receiver and amessage that includes a time of transmission (ToT) of a code epoch(e.g., a defined point in the pseudorandom code sequence) and the GNSSnode position at the ToT. The GNSS receivers may monitor/measure theGNSS signals transmitted/broadcasted by a plurality of GNSS nodes (e.g.,four or more satellites) and solve various equations to determine acorresponding GNSS position (e.g., a spatial coordinate). The GNSSreceivers also implement clocks that are typically less stable and lessprecise than the atomic clocks of the GNSS nodes, and the GNSS receiversmay use the measured GNSS signals to determine the GNSS receivers'deviation from true time (e.g., an offset of the GNSS receiver clockrelative to the GNSS node time). In some embodiments, the positioningcircuitry 1245 may include a Micro-Technology for Positioning,Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) IC that uses a master timing clock toperform position tracking/estimation without GNSS assistance.

The GNSS receivers may measure the time of arrivals (ToAs) of the GNSSsignals from the plurality of GNSS nodes according to its own clock. TheGNSS receivers may determine time of flight (ToF) values for eachreceived GNSS signal from the ToAs and the ToTs, and then may determine,from the ToFs, a three-dimensional (3D) position and clock deviation.The 3D position may then be converted into a latitude, longitude andaltitude. The positioning circuitry 1245 may provide data to applicationcircuitry 1205, which may include one or more of position data or timedata. Application circuitry 1205 may use the time data to synchronizeoperations with other radio base stations (e.g., RAN nodes 1111, 1112,or the like).

The components shown by FIG. 12 may communicate with one another usinginterface circuitry. As used herein, the term “interface circuitry” mayrefer to, is part of, or includes circuitry providing for the exchangeof information between two or more components or devices. The term“interface circuitry” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, forexample, buses, input/output (I/O) interfaces, peripheral componentinterfaces, network interface cards, and/or the like. Any suitable bustechnology may be used in various implementations, which may include anynumber of technologies, including industry standard architecture (ISA),extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI), peripheralcomponent interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe), or anynumber of other technologies. The bus may be a proprietary bus, forexample, used in a SoC based system. Other bus systems may be included,such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point to point interfaces,and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a platform 1300 (or “device 1300”) inaccordance with various embodiments. In embodiments, the computerplatform 1300 may be suitable for use as UEs 1101, 1102, applicationservers 1130, and/or any other element/device discussed herein. Theplatform 1300 may include any combinations of the components shown inthe example. The components of platform 1300 may be implemented asintegrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronicdevices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof adapted in the computer platform 1300, or ascomponents otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system.The block diagram of FIG. 13 is intended to show a high level view ofcomponents of the computer platform 1300. However, some of thecomponents shown may be omitted, additional components may be present,and different arrangement of the components shown may occur in otherimplementations.

The application circuitry 1305 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to single-core or multi-core processors and one or more of cachememory, low drop-out voltage regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers,serial interfaces such as serial peripheral interface (SPI),inter-integrated circuit (I²C) or universal programmable serialinterface circuit, real time clock (RTC), timer-counters includinginterval and watchdog timers, general purpose input-output (IO), memorycard controllers such as secure digital/multi-media card (SD/MMC) orsimilar, universal serial bus (USB) interfaces, mobile industryprocessor interface (MIPI) interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG)test access ports. The processor(s) may include any combination ofgeneral-purpose processors and/or dedicated processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors, application processors, etc.). The processors (or cores) maybe coupled with or may include memory/storage and may be configured toexecute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable variousapplications or operating systems to run on the platform 1300. In someembodiments, processors of application circuitry 1205/1305 may processIP data packets received from an EPC or 5GC.

Application circuitry 1305 may be or may include a microprocessor, amulti-core processor, a multithreaded processor, an ultra-low voltageprocessor, an embedded processor, or other known processing element. Inone example, the application circuitry 1305 may include an Intel®Architecture Core™ based processor, such as a Quark™, an Atom™, an i3,an i5, an i7, or an MCU-class processor, or another such processoravailable from Intel® Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif. The processors ofthe application circuitry 1305 may also be one or more of Advanced MicroDevices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s) or Accelerated Processing Units(APUs); A5-A9 processor(s) from Apple® Inc., Snapdragon™ processor(s)from Qualcomm® Technologies, Inc., Texas Instruments, Inc.® OpenMultimedia Applications Platform (OMAP)™ processor(s); a MIPS-baseddesign from MIPS Technologies, Inc.; an ARM-based design licensed fromARM Holdings, Ltd.; or the like. In some implementations, theapplication circuitry 1305 may be a part of a system on a chip (SoC) inwhich the application circuitry 1305 and other components are formedinto a single integrated circuit, or a single package, such as theEdison™ or Galileo™ SoC boards from Intel® Corporation.

Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 1305 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field-programmabledevices (FPDs) such as FPGAs and the like; programmable logic devices(PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), andthe like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable SoCs(PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of applicationcircuitry 1305 may comprise logic blocks or logic fabric including otherinterconnected resources that may be programmed to perform variousfunctions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, etc. of thevarious embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitryof application circuitry 1305 may include memory cells (e.g., erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory(e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuses, etc.)) used tostore logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc. in lookup-tables (LUTs) andthe like.

The baseband circuitry 130 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Althoughnot shown, baseband circuitry 130 may comprise one or more digitalbaseband systems, which may be coupled via an interconnect subsystem toa CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interface subsystem. Thedigital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to a digital basebandinterface and a mixed-signal baseband sub-system via anotherinterconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems may includea bus system, point-to-point connections, network-on-chip (NOC)structures, and/or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology,such as those discussed herein. The audio sub-system may include digitalsignal processing circuitry, buffer memory, program memory, speechprocessing accelerator circuitry, data converter circuitry such asanalog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter circuitry, analogcircuitry including one or more of amplifiers and filters, and/or otherlike components. In an aspect of the present disclosure, basebandcircuitry 130 may include protocol processing circuitry with one or moreinstances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functionsfor the digital baseband circuitry and/or radio frequency circuitry (forexample, the radio front end modules 135).

The radio front end modules (RFEMs) 135 may comprise a millimeter waveRFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or moresub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from themillimeter wave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to one or moreantennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multipleantennas. In alternative implementations, both millimeter wave andsub-millimeter wave radio functions may be implemented in the samephysical radio front end module 135. The RFEMs 135 may incorporate bothmillimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter wave antennas.

The memory circuitry 140 may include any number and type of memorydevices used to provide for a given amount of system memory. Asexamples, the memory circuitry 140 may include one or more of volatilememory including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and/orsynchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuitry 140 may bedeveloped in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices EngineeringCouncil (JEDEC) low power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such asLPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, or the like. Memory circuitry 140 may beimplemented as one or more of solder down packaged integrated circuits,single die package (SDP), dual die package (DDP) or quad die package(Q17P), socketed memory modules, dual inline memory modules (DIMMs)including microDIMMs or MiniDIMMs, and/or soldered onto a motherboardvia a ball grid array (BGA). In low power implementations, the memorycircuitry 140 may be on-die memory or registers associated with theapplication circuitry 1305. To provide for persistent storage ofinformation such as data, applications, operating systems and so forth,memory circuitry 140 may include one or more mass storage devices, whichmay include, inter alia, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), hard diskdrive (HDD), a micro HDD, resistance change memories, phase changememories, holographic memories, or chemical memories, among others. Forexample, the computer platform 1300 may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®.

Removable memory circuitry 143 may include devices, circuitry,enclosures/housings, ports or receptacles, etc. used to coupled portabledata storage devices with the platform 1300. These portable data storagedevices may be used for mass storage purposes, and may include, forexample, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSDcards, xD picture cards, and the like), and USB flash drives, opticaldiscs, external HDDs, and the like.

The platform 1300 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) thatis used to connect external devices with the platform 1300. The externaldevices connected to the platform 1300 via the interface circuitry mayinclude sensors 141, such as accelerometers, level sensors, flowsensors, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, barometric pressuresensors, and the like. The interface circuitry may be used to connectthe platform 1300 to electro-mechanical components (EMCs) 142, which mayallow platform 1300 to change its state, position, and/or orientation,or move or control a mechanism or system. The EMCs 142 may include oneor more power switches, relays including electromechanical relays (EMRs)and/or solid state relays (SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators,etc.), an audible sound generator, a visual warning device, motors(e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers,claws, clamps, hooks, and/or other like electro-mechanical components.In embodiments, platform 1300 may be configured to operate one or moreEMCs 142 based on one or more captured events and/or instructions orcontrol signals received from a service provider and/or various clients.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 1300 with positioning circuitry 1345, which may be the same orsimilar as the positioning circuitry 1245 discussed with regard to FIG.12.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 1300 with near-field communication (NFC) circuitry 1340, whichmay include an NFC controller coupled with an antenna element and aprocessing device. The NFC circuitry 1340 may be configured to readelectronic tags and/or connect with another NFC-enabled device.

The driver circuitry 1346 may include software and hardware elementsthat operate to control particular devices that are embedded in theplatform 1300, attached to the platform 1300, or otherwisecommunicatively coupled with the platform 1300. The driver circuitry1346 may include individual drivers allowing other components of theplatform 1300 to interact or control various input/output (I/O) devicesthat may be present within, or connected to, the platform 1300. Forexample, driver circuitry 1346 may include a display driver to controland allow access to a display device, a touchscreen driver to controland allow access to a touchscreen interface of the platform 1300, sensordrivers to obtain sensor readings of sensors 141 and control and allowaccess to sensors 141, EMC drivers to obtain actuator positions of theEMCs 142 and/or control and allow access to the EMCs 142, a cameradriver to control and allow access to an embedded image capture device,audio drivers to control and allow access to one or more audio devices.

The power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 145 (also referred toas “power management circuitry 145”) may manage power provided tovarious components of the platform 1300. In particular, with respect tothe baseband circuitry 130, the PMIC 145 may control power-sourceselection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.The PMIC 145 may often be included when the platform 1300 is capable ofbeing powered by a battery 1330, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE 1101, 1102.

In some embodiments, the PMIC 145 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the platform 1300. For example, ifthe platform 1300 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is stillconnected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, thenit may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after aperiod of inactivity. During this state, the platform 1300 may powerdown for brief intervals of time and thus save power. If there is nodata traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the platform1300 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects fromthe network and does not perform operations such as channel qualityfeedback, handover, etc. The platform 1300 goes into a very low powerstate and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up tolisten to the network and then powers down again. The platform 1300 maynot receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state. An additional power saving modemay allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longerthan a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). Duringthis time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and maypower down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a largedelay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

A battery 1330 may power the platform 1300, although in some examplesthe platform 1300 may be mounted deployed in a fixed location, and mayhave a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 1330 maybe a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-airbattery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like.In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 1330may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

In some implementations, the battery 1330 may be a “smart battery,”which includes or is coupled with a Battery Management System (BMS) orbattery monitoring integrated circuitry. The BMS may be included in theplatform 1300 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1330.The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1330 toprovide failure predictions, such as the state of health (SoH) and thestate of function (SoF) of the battery 1330. The BMS may communicate theinformation of the battery 1330 to the application circuitry 1305 orother components of the platform 1300. The BMS may also include ananalog-to-digital (ADC) convertor that allows the application circuitry1305 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1330 or the currentflow from the battery 1330. The battery parameters may be used todetermine actions that the platform 1300 may perform, such astransmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, and thelike.

A power block, or other power supply coupled to an electrical grid maybe coupled with the BMS to charge the battery 1330. In some examples,the power block 1128 may be replaced with a wireless power receiver toobtain the power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in thecomputer platform 1300. In these examples, a wireless battery chargingcircuit may be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuitschosen may depend on the size of the battery 1330, and thus, the currentrequired. The charging may be performed using the Airfuel standardpromulgated by the Airfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standardpromulgated by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence chargingstandard, promulgated by the Alliance for Wireless Power, among others.

Although not shown, the components of platform 1300 may communicate withone another using a suitable bus technology, which may include anynumber of technologies, including industry standard architecture (ISA),extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI), peripheralcomponent interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe), aTime-Trigger Protocol (TTP) system, or a FlexRay system, or any numberof other technologies. The bus may be a proprietary bus, for example,used in a SoC based system. Other bus systems may be included, such asan I²C interface, an SPI interface, point to point interfaces, and apower bus, among others.

FIG. 14 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry 1210/130and radio front end modules (RFEM) 1215/135 in accordance with someembodiments. As shown, the RFEM 1215/135 may include Radio Frequency(RF) circuitry 1306, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1308, one or moreantennas 130 coupled together at least as shown.

The baseband circuitry 1210/130 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Thebaseband circuitry 1210/130 may include one or more baseband processorsor control logic to process baseband signals received from a receivesignal path of the RF circuitry 1306 and to generate baseband signalsfor a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1306. Baseband processingcircuitry 1210/130 may interface with the application circuitry1205/1305 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and forcontrolling operations of the RF circuitry 1306. For example, in someembodiments, the baseband circuitry 1210/130 may include a thirdgeneration (3G) baseband processor 1304A, a fourth generation (4G)baseband processor 1304B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor1304C, or other baseband processor(s) 1304D for other existinggenerations, generations in development or to be developed in the future(e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). Thebaseband circuitry 1210/130 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors1304A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enablecommunication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1306.In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of basebandprocessors 1304A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 1304Gand executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 1304E. The radiocontrol functions may include, but are not limited to, signalmodulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting,etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 1210/130 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT),precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In someembodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry1210/130 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo,Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoderfunctionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation andencoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and mayinclude other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1210/130 may include one ormore audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 1304F. The audio DSP(s)1304F may be include elements for compression/decompression and echocancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in otherembodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitablycombined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a samecircuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all ofthe constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1210/130 and theapplication circuitry 1205/1305 may be implemented together such as, forexample, on a system on a chip (SoC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1210/130 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1210/130 maysupport communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio accessnetwork (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), awireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network(WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 1210/130 isconfigured to support radio communications of more than one wirelessprotocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 1306 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 1306 may include switches,filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with thewireless network. RF circuitry 1306 may include a receive signal pathwhich may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 1308 and provide baseband signals to the basebandcircuitry 1210/130. RF circuitry 1306 may also include a transmit signalpath which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals providedby the baseband circuitry 1210/130 and provide RF output signals to theFEM circuitry 1308 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1306may include mixer circuitry 1306 a, amplifier circuitry 1306 b andfilter circuitry 1306 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal pathof the RF circuitry 1306 may include filter circuitry 1306 c and mixercircuitry 1306 a. RF circuitry 1306 may also include synthesizercircuitry 1306 d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixercircuitry 1306 a of the receive signal path and the transmit signalpath. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306 a of the receivesignal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received fromthe FEM circuitry 1308 based on the synthesized frequency provided bysynthesizer circuitry 1306 d. The amplifier circuitry 1306 b may beconfigured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filtercircuitry 1306 c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter(BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-convertedsignals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals maybe provided to the baseband circuitry 1210/130 for further processing.In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequencybaseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In someembodiments, mixer circuitry 1306 a of the receive signal path maycomprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is notlimited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1306 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1308. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1210/130 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 1306 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 1306 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 1306 a of the receive signal path and the mixercircuitry 1306 a of the transmit signal path may include two or moremixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley imagerejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306 a of thereceive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1306 a may be arranged fordirect downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 1306 a of the transmit signal path may be configuredfor super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 1306 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry1210/130 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate withthe RF circuitry 1306.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1306 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 1306 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 1306 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1306 a of the RFcircuitry 1306 based on a frequency input and a divider control input.In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1306 d may be afractional N/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1210/130or the applications processor 1205/1305 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplications processor 1205/1305.

Synthesizer circuitry 1306 d of the RF circuitry 1306 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1306 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 1306 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 1308 may include a receive signal path which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or moreantennas 130, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1306 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 1308 may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 1306 for transmission by oneor more of the one or more antennas 130. In various embodiments, theamplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be donesolely in the RF circuitry 1306, solely in the FEM 1308, or in both theRF circuitry 1306 and the FEM 1308.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1308 may include a TX/RX switchto switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path.The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA toamplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RFsignals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1306). The transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 1308 may include a power amplifier (PA)to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1306), andone or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission(e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 130).

Processors of the application circuitry 1205/1305 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 1210/130 may be used to execute elements of one ormore instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of thebaseband circuitry 1210/130, alone or in combination, may be usedexecute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors ofthe baseband circuitry 1210/130 may utilize data (e.g., packet data)received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality(e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagramprotocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise aradio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below.As referred to herein, Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control(MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet dataconvergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. Asreferred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of aUE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 15 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the basebandcircuitry 1210/130 of FIGS. 12-13 may comprise processors 1304A-1304Eand a memory 1304G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors1304A-1304E may include a memory interface, 1504A-1504E, respectively,to send/receive data to/from the memory 1304G.

The baseband circuitry 1210/130 may further include one or moreinterfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, suchas a memory interface 1512 (e.g., an interface to send/receive datato/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 1210/130), anapplication circuitry interface 1514 (e.g., an interface to send/receivedata to/from the application circuitry 1205/1305 of FIGS. 12-13), an RFcircuitry interface 1516 (e.g., an interface to send/receive datato/from RF circuitry 1306 of FIG. 14), a wireless hardware connectivityinterface 1518 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from NearField Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g.,Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents), and a power management interface 1520 (e.g., an interfaceto send/receive power or control signals to/from the PMIC 145.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 16 shows a diagrammaticrepresentation of hardware resources 1600 including one or moreprocessors (or processor cores) 1610, one or more memory/storage devices1620, and one or more communication resources 1630, each of which may becommunicatively coupled via a bus 1640. As used herein, the term“computing resource”, “hardware resource”, etc., may refer to a physicalor virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computingenvironment, and/or physical or virtual component within a particulardevice, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space,processor/CPU time and/or processor/CPU usage, processor and acceleratorloads, hardware time or usage, electrical power, input/outputoperations, ports or network sockets, channel/link allocation,throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and applications,and/or the like. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV)is utilized, a hypervisor 1602 may be executed to provide an executionenvironment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize thehardware resources 1600. A “virtualized resource” may refer to compute,storage, and/or network resources provided by virtualizationinfrastructure to an application, device, system, etc.

The processors 1610 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit(RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) mayinclude, for example, a processor 1612 and a processor 1614.

The memory/storage devices 1620 may include main memory, disk storage,or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 1620 mayinclude, but are not limited to any type of volatile or non-volatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random-accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 1630 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 1604 or one or more databases 1606 via anetwork 1608. For example, the communication resources 1630 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components,Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components,and other communication components. As used herein, the term “networkresource” or “communication resource” may refer to computing resourcesthat are accessible by computer devices via a communications network.The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entities toprovide services, and may include computing and/or network resources.System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions,network data objects or services, accessible through a server where suchsystem resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and areclearly identifiable.

Instructions 1650 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 1610 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. The instructions 1650 may reside, completely orpartially, within at least one of the processors 1610 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 1620, or anysuitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of theinstructions 1650 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1600 fromany combination of the peripheral devices 1604 or the databases 1606.Accordingly, the memory of processors 1610, the memory/storage devices1620, the peripheral devices 1604, and the databases 1606 are examplesof computer-readable and machine-readable media.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth inone or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one ormore operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth inthe example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry asdescribed above in connection with one or more of the preceding figuresmay be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of theexamples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated witha UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above inconnection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configuredto operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forthbelow in the example section.

Examples

Example 1 includes a method comprising receiving an indication ofcapability information for a user equipment (UE); constructing, based onthe capability information, a configuration message to configure the UEwith one or more sub-physical resource block (PRB) configurations for aphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in even further enhanced machinetype communication (efeMTC), wherein a first sub-PRB configuration ofthe one or more sub-PRB configurations is a 2 out of 3 subcarrierconfiguration; and causing the configuration message to be sent to theUE.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein the indication of capability information is to indicatesupport for 2 out of 3 subcarrier configuration and a 3-subcarrierconfiguration or a 6-subcarrier configuration.

Example 3 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, further comprising: causing an allocation message to be sent tothe UE to indicate 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers for a PUSCHtransmission; and receiving the PUSCH transmission from the UE on the 2out of 3 allocated subcarriers with a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing.

Example 4 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein the one or more sub-PRB configurations further includesa 3-subcarrier configuration or a 6-subcarrier configuration.

Example 5 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein the first sub-PRB configuration allows for 2 out of 3allocated subcarriers with respect to non-overlapping 3-subcarrier setsacross a PRB.

Example 6 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, further comprising generating and causing transmission ofdownlink control information that includes M bits in a subcarrierindication field to indicate a set of allocated subcarriers.

Example 7 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, further comprising indicating the set of allocated subcarriersbased on the following table:

I_(sc) n_(sc) 0-3 3I_(sc) + {Y, Y + 1} 4-7 3(I_(sc) − 4) + {0, 1, 2} 8-96(I_(sc) − 8) + {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5},wherein n_(sc) is the set of allocated subcarriers, I_(sc) is indicatedby the M bits in the subcarrier indication field, and Y is 0 or 1.

Example 8 may include a method comprising mapping a demodulationreference signal (DMRS) to resource elements within the sub-physical PRBPUSCH allocation; and causing the DMRS to be transmitted.

Example 9 may include the method of example 8 or some other exampleherein, wherein the DMRS has a length-16 sequence.

Example 10 may include the method of example 8 or some other exampleherein, wherein each of the plurality of consecutive slots are 4milliseconds.

Example 11 may include the method of example 8 or some other exampleherein, wherein the sub-PRB PUSCH allocation comprises 2 out of 3allocated subcarriers.

Example 12 may include the method of example 8 or some other exampleherein, wherein the DMRS is a first DMRS and the method furthercomprises: mapping the first DMRS to a first subcarrier of the 2 out of3 allocated subcarriers; and mapping a second DMRS to a secondsubcarrier of the 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers.

Example 13 may include the method of example 8 or some other exampleherein, wherein the DMRS is mapped to one subcarrier.

Example 14 may include the method of example 8 or some other exampleherein, wherein the DMRS comprises 2-tone binary phase shift keying(BPSK) DMRS symbols and the method further comprises: applying discreteFourier transforming pre-coding to the 2-tone BPSK DMRS symbols; andcausing the DMRS to be transmitted on one subcarrier.

Example 15 may include the method of example 8 or some other exampleherein, further comprising mapping the DMRS to resource elements infourth symbol in each of a plurality of consecutive slots.

Example 16 may include a method comprising allocating, to a userequipment (UE) that is to operate in coverage enhancement mode B, two orfour resource units for a sub-physical resource block (PRB) physicaluplink shared channel (PUSCH); and providing, to the UE, an indicationof a transport block size (TB S) value with reference to columns of a TBS table that are associated with 3 and 6 PRBs.

Example 17 may include the method of example 16 or some other exampleherein, wherein a first column of the TBS is associated with 3 PRBs andincludes TBS values: 56, 88, 144, 176, 208, 224, 256, 328, 392, 456, and504.

Example 18 may include the method of example 16 or some other exampleherein, wherein a first column of the TBS is associated with 6 PRBs andincludes TBS values: 152, 208, 256, 328, 408, 504, 600, 712, 808, and936.

Example 19 may include a method comprising receiving a signal thatincludes an indication of a sub-physical resource block (PRB) allocationfor physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in even further enhancedmachine type communication (efeMTC); and generating an uplink (UL)signal for transmission based at least in part on the indication of thesub-PRB allocation for PUSCH.

Example 20 may include the method of example 19 or some other exampleherein, wherein a PUSCH with 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers issupported for efeMTC.

Example 21 may include the method of example 20 or some other exampleherein, wherein the PUSCH with 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers isconfigured together with sub-PRB allocation with 3 or 6 subcarriers.

Example 22 may include the method of example 19 or some other exampleherein, wherein the PUSCH with 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers isconfigured separately from other sub-PRB allocations.

Example 23 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-22, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 24 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-22, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 25 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-22, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 26 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-22, or portions thereof.

Example 27 may include a signal as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-22, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 28 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown anddescribed herein.

Example 29 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example 30 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example 31 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Any of the above described examples may be combined with any otherexample (or combination of examples), unless explicitly statedotherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementationsprovides illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

1.-22. (canceled)
 23. An apparatus, comprising: memory to includeinformation to configure a user equipment (UE) with a plurality ofsub-physical resource block (PRB) configurations; and baseband circuitryto: receive an indication of capability information for the UE withrespect to sub-PRB allocation; construct, based on the capabilityinformation, a configuration message to configure the UE with one ormore sub-PRB configurations of the plurality of sub-PRB configurationsfor a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in even further enhancedmachine type communication (efeMTC), wherein a first sub-PRBconfiguration of the one or more sub-PRB configurations corresponds toconfiguring the UE with 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers, 3 allocatedsubcarriers, or 6 allocated subcarriers; and cause the configurationmessage to be sent to the UE.
 24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein thebaseband circuitry is further to: cause an allocation message to be sentto the UE to indicate the 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers; and receivethe PUSCH transmission from the UE on the 2 out of 3 allocatedsubcarriers, with a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing.
 25. The apparatus ofclaim 23, wherein the 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers are based on aplurality of non-overlapping sets of subcarriers, and the 3 allocatedsubcarriers are based on the plurality of non-overlapping sets ofsubcarriers.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the plurality ofnon-overlapping sets of subcarriers include subcarrier sets {0, 1, 2},{3, 4, 5}, {6, 7, 8} and {9, 10, 11}.
 27. The apparatus of claim 23,wherein the baseband circuitry is further to: generate and causetransmission of downlink control information that includes M bits in asubcarrier indication field to indicate a set of allocated subcarriers.28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the indication of capabilityinformation is to indicate support for 2 out of 3 subcarrierconfiguration and a 3-subcarrier configuration or a 6-subcarrierconfiguration.
 29. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the one or moresub-PRB configurations further includes a 3-subcarrier configuration ora 6-subcarrier configuration.
 30. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein thebaseband circuitry is further to indicate the set of allocatedsubcarriers based on the following table: I_(sc) n_(sc) 0-3 3I_(sc) +{Y, Y + 1} 4-7 3(I_(sc) − 4) + {0, 1, 2} 8-9 6(I_(sc) − 8) + {0, 1, 2,3, 4, 5}

wherein n_(sc) is the set of allocated subcarriers, I_(sc) is indicatedby the M bits in the subcarrier indication field, and Y is 0 or
 1. 31.One or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) havinginstructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a userequipment (UE) to: map a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) toresource elements within the sub-physical PRB PUSCH allocation based ona configuration of a sub-physical resource block (PRB) physical uplinkshared channel (PUSCH) allocation; and cause the DMRS to be transmitted.32. The one or more NTCRM of claim 31, wherein the DMRS has a length-16sequence.
 33. The one or more NTCRM of claim 31, wherein each of theplurality of consecutive slots are 4 milliseconds.
 34. The one or moreNTCRM of claim 31, wherein the sub-PRB PUSCH allocation comprises 2 outof 3 allocated subcarriers.
 35. The one or more NTCRM of claim 31,wherein the DMRS is a first DMRS and the instructions, when executed,are further to cause the UE to: map the first DMRS to a first subcarrierof the 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers; and map a second DMRS to asecond subcarrier of the 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers.
 36. The oneor more NTCRM of claim 31, wherein the DMRS is mapped to one subcarrier.37. The one or more NTCRM of claim 31, wherein the DMRS comprises 2-tonebinary phase shift keying (BPSK) DMRS symbols and the instructions, whenexecuted, are further to cause the UE to: apply discrete Fouriertransforming pre-coding to the 2-tone BPSK DMRS symbols; and cause theDMRS to be transmitted on one subcarrier.
 38. The one or more NTCRM ofclaim 31, wherein the instructions, when executed, are further to causethe UE to map the DMRS to resource elements in fourth symbol in each ofa plurality of consecutive slots.
 39. An apparatus to be implemented inan access node (AN), the apparatus comprising: a central processing unit(CPU) to allocate, to a user equipment (UE) that is to operate incoverage enhancement mode B, two or four resource units for asub-physical resource block (PRB) physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH); and baseband circuitry coupled with the CPU, the basebandcircuitry is to provide, to the UE, an indication of a transport blocksize (TBS) value with reference to columns of a TBS table that areassociated with 3 and 6 PRBs.
 40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein afirst column of the TBS is associated with 3 PRBs and includes TBSvalues: 56, 88, 144, 176, 208, 224, 256, 328, 392, 456, and
 504. 41. Theapparatus of claim 39, wherein a first column of the TBS is associatedwith 6 PRBs and includes TBS values: 152, 208, 256, 328, 408, 504, 600,712, 808, and
 936. 42. An apparatus comprising: baseband circuitry to:receive a signal that includes an indication of a sub-physical resourceblock (PRB) allocation for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ineven further enhanced machine type communication (efeMTC), and cause totransmit an uplink (UL) signal based at least in part on the indicationof the sub-PRB allocation for PUSCH; and a central processing unit (CPU)coupled with the baseband circuitry, the CPU is to generate the ULsignal for transmission based at least in part on the indication of thesub-PRB allocation for PUSCH.
 43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein aPUSCH with 2 out of 3 allocated subcarriers is supported for efeMTC. 44.The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the PUSCH with 2 out of 3 allocatedsubcarriers is configured together with sub-PRB allocation with 3 or 6subcarriers.
 45. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the PUSCH with 2 outof 3 allocated subcarriers is configured separately from other sub-PRBallocations.